What if?- A Mockingjay Story

Chapter 82

"You okay with that?"

I turn to Gracie and say

"Free babysitting, sure why not?"

She beams as she exclaims

"Brilliant!"

Sophie comes down the stairs a few minutes later with her small backpack on her back and a snapback hat she got for her birthday. I hug her tight before letting her go, she's anxious and excited to go out for once so she hurried me. I laughed at this and waved goodbye until the door was shut between us and them. Once they were gone Peeta and I stand in our same positions for a moment before going back to the kitchen. He washes the dishes and passes them to me as I dry them and place them in the cupboard. My arm is out of its sling since last night but my shoulder pain isn't as bad so I didn't bother to put it back on this morning. As I place a plate in the cupboard behind me Peeta says casually

"What do you want for dinner?"

When Gracie offered to mind Sophie for the day I think she was doing it to let us alone, to catch up and spend quality time alone with each other. That isn't as easy done as it sounds. We haven't really talked much, once again avoiding talking about my injuries, hospital visits and more. I don't want him to feel a bit guilty, I don't want him to run out on me out of guilt. I shrug my shoulders and cleaning a glass in my hand I reply

"I don't mind really"

He nods, his face showing that he's thinking as he scrubs the dishes and then suggests

"I could make pizza"

I nod and reply

"That sounds good"

That's the last thing said for the next hour.

---

Peeta kneads the dough beside me as I chop up the ham into small pieces for sprinkling over it. At one point he's passing by with the flour packet when part of it spills out onto my apron when walking past. He apologises but I shrug it off. A few minutes later I decide that I need a tiny bit of revenge. I walk over to the cupboard and reaching my hand into the packet pull out a fist full of flour. I walk up behind him then quickly hit the flour to the back of his head, sprinkling his blond strands of hair in the powdery flour. he turns to me slowly, a massive grin across his face. He strokes my hair softly with his fingers and then I hear a 'crack' as he pours the gooey insides of an egg upon my head. Then the food war begins.

One hour later we are sitting on the floor, backs against the cupboards and our hearty laughs filling the room. I have nearly all the ingredients coated onto me, flour on my arms, egg in my hair. The list goes on, in basic terms we are both destroyed. I turn to him, my cheek against the cold wood of the cupboard as I look into his eyes once he faces me. I smile, he reflects this upon his own face. His blue eyes sparkle in the sunlight as his lips approach mine and eventually collide. My mouth is greeted with a taste of flour but I hesitate to pull away. We stay like this for a long time until we are forced to get up and clean up the mess we created. Peeta goes for a shower as he got a lot more destroyed than I did. I simply change clothes and tie up my hair, knowing Sophie will be back soon and I won't get to shower for at least an hour. The flour was only visible on my clothes luckily and although my hair looks very greasy from the egg yolk I know I can manage.

Peeta comes down after a bit, his hair wet and his skin shiny clean. He wears clean clothes and beams a smile. I'm almost jealous as I smell the egg off my hair. Sophie arrives with Gracie over an hour later, immediately running to the garden before we can greet her. Gracie talks to us for a moment then stops and pulls a curious face. A few minutes later she asks

"What's in your hair?"

She points to a strand which only now do I notice is fully white in flour. I glance at Peeta then we burst out laughing leaving poor Gracie standing before us with a look of confusion on her face.

It's not long after Gracie's gone to we find out Gracie bought her a plant. A beautiful flower in which Sophie puts in a pot in the back garden. As Peeta and I helped her take it out from is previous plastic pot I find a small note with written on it

'For when she's gone, to remember her always. Xxx Gracie'

I smile, showing Peeta the note. The pizza was never made, we settled for a takeaway one from the pizzeria from in the centre of town. Once Sophie is asleep that night I continued to clean the kitchen as Peeta sits out on the decking, drawing the delicate flower and the starry background behind it.